Four former DLSU players begin PBA Dream

Fresh from the UAAP championship, LA Revilla is one of the Green Archers to be drafted into the PBA.

For every Filipino basketball player, the PBA symbolizes the epitome of basketball success, a culmination for all the blood, sweat, and tears that were spilled in the gym. For four former Green Archers, the dream of playing in the bright lights of the PBA became more of a reality last November 3 at Robinson’s Place in Manila.

Joshua Webb was the first Green Archer selected in this year’s PBA Draft after being picked up by Air 21 Express with the 1^st pick in the third round, 21^st overall. It’s a DLSU reunion of sorts as Webb is reunited with Air 21 head coach Franz Pumaren, his coach back in DLSU until 2009, and will be teaming up with former Green Archers like Mac Cardona, Joseph Yeo, and Ren-Ren Ritualo to name a few.

Fresh off winning a championship with DLSU, LA Revilla is heading to GlobalPort Batang Pier after being selected as the 24^th overall pick, the fourth pick in the third round, after the Mikee Romero-backed squad acquired the pick along with 2016 and 2017 future second round picks from Barangay Ginebra in exchange for a  2014 first round pick. The fourth year player is joining GlobalPort’s fully loaded back court of Sol Mercado, Willie Miller, and fellow draftees RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo, his former rivals from FEU. Revilla will also be reunited with Nico Salva, his teammate in San Beda back in high school.

Former Green Archer and UP Fighting Maroon Joseph Marata was selected 25^th overall by Governor’s Cup Runner-Up Petron Blaze Boosters. After playing his final year in UP, Marata will join a Petron team that had a whirlwind of a year, with their season ending with a Game 7 loss to San Mig Coffee. He will also be reuniting with former DLSU head coach Gee Abanilla, who he worked with for a few months before Marata’s eventual transfer to UP.

The last Green Archer to be picked in this year’s draft is Ervic Vijandre, who suited up for the Green-and-White’s Team B from 2004 to 2006. The former DLSU basketball and baseball player was selected by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters with the 29^th overall pick after playing with the Placenta Erase team in the PBA-D League. Vijandre, who was the runner-up in Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Showdown, will join fellow Lasallians TY Tang and Ryan Arana.

This year’s draft saw more Green Archers moving on to the PBA compared to the past three drafts, with only Simon Atkins, Brian Ilad, and 2011 first overall pick JVee Casio emerging as the selected few who were called up on draft day prior to this year’s edition.